Driving Under the Influence
DUI DEFENSE

So
you have been arrested and booked into the county jail. Hopefully you
were kept in a holding area and were not processed into the actual holding
cells or pods and did not have to change into the jail uniform (pumpkin
orange). Presumably you have been released either through a cash bond
or surety bond. Now what? There are many questions to be answered and
many steps to take, but first, take a deep breath. You are not alone.
There are thousands of DUI arrests each year just in Hillsborough County.
You will get through this difficult time, but you need to be diligent.
Those who, for whatever reason, do not take the charges seriously often
miss court dates, have warrants issued for their re-arrest, drive when
they are not permitted, and generally put themselves in a much worse
position than that which they originally faced.

There
are three (10) day time periods with which to be concerned - all of
which run from the date of arrest. The first ten day deadline is to
submit an application for Administrative Review regarding the administrative
suspension of your Drivers License.
This review is optional, but is pursued by most practitioners in conjunction
with the DUI court case. Secondly, you have ten days upon which you
may drive (if otherwise able) on the DUI citation. This means that the
DUI citation acts as a restricted driver’s license for ten days
after which you cannot drive (unless you have received an extension
pursuant to an administrative review). Third, the Clerk of Court, Traffic
Division requests that a court date (arraignment hearing) be scheduled
by you within ten days of the arrest. If The Perez Firm is employed
within ten days then these steps will be performed by our office.

It
is often said that the typical “law abiding citizen” is
more likely to find themselves charged with DUI than with any other
offense. A great number of clients at the Perez Firm are ordinary law-abiding
citizens who find themselves charged with a DUI. The term “Simple
DUI” is used to describe a county court level cases, however,
no DUI case is “simple”. There are more aspects to DUI law
than many other more serious offenses such as some felonies. Additionally,
Driver’s License suspension
issues are closely related to DUI charges. After a DUI arrest, an individual
is entitled to:

know what time deadlines they face in order to preserve their rights

know how to get a driving permit for work

know if there is any time where they will not be able to drive,
even on a work permit

know how to challenge their license suspension

know when to subpoena the arresting officer to an administrative
hearing (and when not to)

know if their case can be handled without their appearance in court

know the strengths and weaknesses of the case

know if the officer had a valid and legal reason to stop them or
otherwise investigate

know if a video tape of field tests will reveal possible defenses

know if the breath test was conducted properly

know if their case can be defended even if the breath results were
over a .08

know what penalties they face

know what their breath results would have been at the time of driving
(not an hour or more later)

know if there are legal issues which would cause the suppression
of evidence or dismissal of case

know if the DUI can be reduced to a lesser charge such a reckless
driving

At the Perez Firm we will help you gain answers to all of these questions
and many more. Mr. Perez has extensive experience with DUI cases both
as a former Hillsborough DUI Prosecutor and as a DUI Defense Lawyer
in Tampa, and has tried dozens of DUI jury trial cases. As a former
DUI prosecutor Mr. Perez knows how the prosecution looks at a DUI case
and knows those factors which are important during plea negotiations.